The facts on U.S. firearm deaths

Up to 90 percent of gun related deaths have nothing at all to do with gun control.

Carl Parrillo Las Vegas

October 24, 2017 - 9:00 pm

Photo By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In response to the Sunday letter written by Stanley Cohen on gun control: Mr. Cohen’s entire conclusion is based on erroneous facts. Here are some:

■ Of the 30,000-plus gun deaths each year, two-thirds of those are from suicide. That opens up an entire new track in the debate, which I will not get into here.

■ The next largest group of gun deaths comes from gang killings involving young men 15 to 34 years of age. Another subject we could spend lots of time on.

■ Another large group is women killed by guns in domesticate arguments. Again, this opens up a separate discussion.

So we are up to 90 percent of gun-related deaths — all of which have nothing at all to do with gun control. People would still kill themselves, other gang rivals or their spouses no matter how strict you make gun laws.

I suggest Mr. Cohen read the recent commentary published in The Washington Post and the Review-Journal from Leah Libresco, a statistician who favored gun control but changed her mind after researching the 33,000 gun-related deaths that occur each year in this country. Her essay will open your eyes to new ways to look at this horrendous problem, even if you already are against gun control.

Respectfully, I sincerely hope that Mr. Cohen and others will change the target of their well-intentioned anger.